Path of Radiance
by Galaxia's Roaring Blaze
Summary: It's been two and a half years since Ran's supposed defeat and Elsword's untimely death. The Elgang mourn deeply for his loss. However, an old evil arises from the depths of the sea, intent on waging war on the whole of Elrios. With Elsword gone, can the Elgang save the world once more? All they can hope for is a ray of hope. T for later chapters. Sequel to Return of the Darkness.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is the story you've all been waiting for...

The sequel to Return of the Darkness, Path of Radiance!

I don't really have much to say in this, other than if you haven't read Return of the Darkness, I suggest you do. Otherwise, you'll not understand what's going on.

So, without further ado, welcome to the sequel!

Disclaimer: Saying this only once and once only. I don't own Elsword. KOG and KillerCombo own this wonderful MMORPG.

* * *

Prologue

Everlasting Wound

It had been almost two and half years since Ran, the villainous demon lord bent on ruling the world, had been defeated by the Elgang, the band of heroes who've saved the El and the world. Those who were effected by Ran's tyranny, particularly Hamel, were rebuilding and becoming restored. At last, it seemed as if the world was back to normal.

It had also been almost two and half years, however, that the dual swordsman, Elsword, had perished. Because of Ran, he had been corrupted and turned into a demon, which caused him to go missing for three months before he returned to the group. Though he became normal at the end, he sacrificed his life to help his friends.

The group was oblivious to Elsword's secret until they had arrived at the Halls of Water and found out about it. Despite this, they still loved Elsword like family, for he was the one who brought the group, the Elgang as it were, together.

And now, he was gone. His loss saddened the Elgang dearly. The house in which they lived in was much more quiet than it used to be. No longer were there arguments, playful or otherwise, between him and Aisha.

The Dimension Witch often cried herself to sleep at night, wishing for Elsword to return. She loved him like a brother, and to see him go like that... It made her frail nerves wither even more. Her eyes were forever swollen and pink like cotton candy. Why did he have to go? Why?

"It's not fair," she wailed, "that he had leave after only barely seeing us after three months!"

She was not the only one to feel this, of course. Eve had managed to keep calm during this time, though she, somewhat reluctantly, admits she still feels sadness. Rena often took walks outside, and Ara meditated to calm her nerves. Chung, like Aisha, often cried too. Raven began to read a whole lot more to keep his mind off things.

"I wish he could come back, so everything could be back to normal!" Aisha said. "We could have fun and games, and laugh at Elsword or Chung getting slapped into a wall by Eve." Aisha chuckled at that last part. "I'm still wondering how'd they survived those bashings."

That memory, as funny as it sounded, made her feel a little better on the inside as she went back to sleep for the umpteenth time that day.

_Maybe... things will come back to normal... _

* * *

**In the ocean, unspecific region and unrecorded time...**

There was a stirring in the ocean. An unusual stirring. All of its inhabitants could feel it. There was a unified feeling that they all agreed on. Darkness. The sea itself seemed to follow their emotions, waves rolling uneasily across the surface.

Near the bottom of the ocean, something glimmered brightly from its murky depths. Something was... awakening. The light increased in brightness and soon a shape could be made out.

It was a four legged creature that looked about 30 feet long and 20 feet tall. It was curled up on the ocean floor, sleep.

And then, as if on cue, its neon yellow eyes sharply shot open and it unfurled from its position.

"It is time for me to rise again. The world shall soon know my wrath..."

The creature roared, bubbles forming around the massive beast.

An ancient evil had finally awoken.

* * *

A/N: Sorry if this was short, but it'll get longer in later chapters. I'll put up all the classes in the next chapter.

Another note: Add will not been in this story (or if he is, he'll be in a later chapter).

Anyways, R&R! Constructive criticism is welcome! No flaming allowed!

~SRB


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I forgot to put job classes up last chapter, so I'll put them here. They're the same as last time but this is just to refresh the memory.

Raven: Veteran Commander. (Age: 29)

Chung: Tactical Trooper (Age: 18)

Rena: Night Watcher (Age: N/A)

Eve: Code Empress (Age: N/A)

Aisha: Dimension Witch (Age: 20)

Ara: Sakra Devanam (Age: 19)

* * *

Chapter 1

Ripples

The ocean sentients weren't the only ones who've felt the disturbance. Ara and her spirit, Eun, had felt it too. A shiver ran down her spine. What was that?

"Eun, what was that?" Ara asked nervously.

_I haven't a clue, Ara. _Eun replied. _But it felt like ripple. A ripple in time and space._

"Time and space?"

_Yes. It has been slightly disturbed, a mini... turbulence, for lack of a better word._

"Shouldn't Aisha be able to feel it since she does control space-time?"

_Perhaps. This disturbance is on a more...spiritual level. Aisha may or may not be able to feel it._

"Hm... Well, whatever it was, it felt so... unnerving." Her eyes narrowed in worry. "I don't like it."

_Neither do I, Ara. Neither do I._

* * *

Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly), Aisha did feel it on a somewhat larger scale. Her staff started to shake violently out of nowhere and she could feel a distortion in space-time. Then it all stopped as soon as it started, the distortion gone with it.

"... That feeling... I hadn't felt that before..." Aisha said quietly to herself. "It's like the space-time continuum got disrupted somehow. That's weird..."

It wasn't her that had made it go haywire for a moment (Lady El knows what would happen if that were the case); space and time was bent to her will. She rarely ever messed up with that (and again, if she did... Aisha shivered at the thought). No, it was a different entity. Something big had made that go off.

Aisha gulped worriedly. From earlier experience, anything that can cause something that massive is more than likely evil. Just look how Ran turned out to be.

"... Something tells me that we're in huge trouble..." Aisha said worriedly. "I gotta tell someone about this."

But who? Her mind wracked for ideas until a lightbulb shown.

"Glave! That's it!" Aisha exclaimed in realization. Glave was the guardian of Henir's Time and Space. He of all people - as creepy he looked, Aisha thought, wincing - should know about what had happened.

With staff in hand, she swiftly ran out the house in search for Glave.

* * *

Glave was simply standing in front of the entrance to Henir's Time and Space. His eye was closed and a troubled look was written across his face. This wasn't right. Henir's Time and Space... it was off somehow. Something had disturbed it, but only for a split second.

This was bad. If Henir's Time and Space was being destroyed...

"Glave!"

He turned to the Dimension Witch, and opened his eye. "Do you wish to enter Henir's Time and Space?" he asked.

"Nope, not today!" Aisha told him. "I'm here with a concern about time and space."

His eye widened. "You felt it, too?!"

Aisha's own eyes widened. "You felt it, too?!" she echoed. "Great! Just the guy I needed to see!"

"I'm glad I wasn't the only one who felt the tiny distortion with space-time," Glave said. "I thought I was going crazy at first, but I felt it more strongly when I entered Henir's Time and Space."

"I don't know what might have caused such a thing to happen," Aisha said nervously. She described what happened when she felt space-time go out of whack.

"Hm... This is quite strange," Glave finally answered. "I haven't seen anything like this before nor felt it. Either the apocalypse has arrived, or something or someone is tampering with the space-time dimension."

"Tampering?" Aisha said with a raised eyebrow. "Who else could tamper with it besides me and possibly you?"

Glave's eye closed again in thought. "No, it couldn't be..." he muttered to himself.

"What?"

Glave opened his eye again. "The destroyer of years past... the true ruler of time and space... the Genocide Breaker..."

"Genocide... Breaker?" Aisha said.

"You might have to go to the Velder library for more information," Glave told her.

"Thanks!" she said, taking off again. This Genocide Breaker thing sounded dangerous. Best to find out more information on it.

* * *

After some time, she found a book about the Genocide Breaker and began reading.

_In times past, when Elrios had gained control of El and its powers, Lady El had made a being to govern time and space, the Dimensional Paladin. The Dimensional Paladin lived in his own dimensional plane, keeping watch over the flow of time and space and ridding any threat that tried to break that flow. So long as his heart still beat and his breath went unabated, the balance of time and space was harmonized._

_But then, when the El had depleted to severely low levels, space-time had begun to distort. New dimensions arose on the surface plane of Elrios. Chaos ensued. The Dimensional Paladin had turned rogue. He was no longer the Dimensional Paladin. Now he was known as the Genocide Breaker, Elrios' sole destructor._

_For many years the land was ravaged and torn apart by his savage powers. It wasn't until Lady El decided enough was enough. She banished him from his dimensional plane and sealed him away at the bottom of the sea with three ancient weapons of different timelines imbued with powerful magic, then led the task of keeping time and space stable to herself alone. The Genocide Breaker would not awaken unless the flames of war were fanned in under five hundred years. Since then, the Genocide Breaker has stayed in his slumber for three hundred and twenty six years. If he were to reawaken, the world may never see the light of day again..._

Aisha's eyes widened in shock as she finished. This was bad. If the distortions in time and space meant the Genocide Breaker was waking up again...

"We're in trouble..." Aisha thought aloud.

Putting the book down, she rushed out the library to tell the Elgang.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the wait, but I finally managed to get this up again!

R&R! Did I do better? Worse? Criticism is advised. Flames are not.

~SRB


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Had a severe case of Writer's Block and school came around.

Anyhow, on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 3

Abyssal Awakening

Aisha made it back to the house just as everyone was sitting down for dinner. She burst through the door, lightly panting.

"Aisha, what's the matter?" Ara asked, concerned. "You look like you just ran a mile."

"Guys, I have bad news," Aisha said, breathing having calmed somewhat.

That got the Elgang's attention.

* * *

"WHAT?!"

"Yea, that was my reaction too," Aisha replied.

"But what can we do against something so powerful?" Rena said, a deep look of worry in her green eyes.

"That, I don't know," Aisha replied sadly.

"What information we have gathered is that due to the cataclysmic time and space disruptions you have felt, the Genocide Breaker must be reawakening," Eve declared.

"And if that's the case..." began Aisha.

"Then we're pretty screwed," finished Chung.

Aisha suddenly perked up. "Actually, now thinking about it, there was something Lady El used to keep the Genocide Breaker sealed away," she said.

"Really?" went Raven.

"In order to keep the Genocide Breaker from rampaging again, she took three different weapons from different timelines and locked him away, before taking the responsibility of keeping time stable herself," Aisha explained.

"And if he wakes up? What then?" said Ara.

"All I know is that if he does, we're dead. Probably the weapons will break, effectively releasing the seal on him."

_"Fufufufu... pathetic welps of flesh... I have awoken."_

The Elgang flinched at the new voice. The voice, heavily baritone and intimidating with a hint of a hiss to it, spoke again.

_"You cannot see me due to me hiding my presence," _the voice explained. _"I am the _true _ruler of time and space, the one who will destroy you all. The Genocide Breaker."_

"What?!" said a frightened Aisha, gripping her staff tightly. Everyone else likewise did the same.

The Genocide Breaker merely laughed again. _"You think your staff will save you? Foolish witch, you know not the tricks of time and space as I do," _he told her, voice dripping with malice. He seemed to clear his throat and continued, _"I am free once more thanks to the war between the demons and yourselves, including you, the Elgang as people so dubbed you weaklings. I would have awoken much sooner, but I wanted it to be a surprise while you guys had finished mourning over your little friend that just died."_

"Wait, how do you know about Elsword?" Chung said, eyes narrowed. "And about us?"

_"Ah, young Prince Seiker," _the Genocide Breaker addressed with a drawl in his tone this time, Chung slightly paling. _"I am a time and space god, did you not know that already? I know all that has transpired. I can go to the past and warp back to the present in the blink of an eye. And it seems a lot has happened in my absence since I was sealed by the blasted woman, Lady El..._

_"But none of that matters, now. I shall bide my time, regaining what I once lost and take back Elrios by storm. Then, I'll get rid of Lady El as well. Be warned, Elgang. You may have just met your match.."_

The Genocide Breaker laughed evilly and for a brief second the face of black lizard like creature appeared before disappearing into nothing...

The Elgang was shocked into silence. The Genocide Breaker, awoken already?

Finally, after a while, Ara said, "Well, what are we gonna do?"

"What are we gonna do? We're up against a god of time and space!" Aisha exclaimed. "How are we supposed to defeat a _god _of all people?!"

"We could always reseal him - " began Chung.

"The seal has been broken," Eve cut in, sipping some tea. "And as the weapons that created the seal were from three different time lines, the chances of resealing him are slim. Our only option is to gather as much strength as we possibly can, and attack him."

"But most of the forces from Velder are still depleted from the battle with Ran," Raven said, quietly rapping his metallic fingers on the table.

"Yes but we still have one other alternative," Eve said, and everyone turned to her as she told them...

* * *

A/N: Again, sorry for my lateness and sorry for the poor quality this chapter probably brought. Updates will be much slower due to school and such matters.

Anyhow, read and review like always!

~GRB


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